ENGLISH FIRST LANGUAGE
POEM: - TO A PAIR OF SARUS CRANES
POEM: - TO A PAIR OF SARUS CRANES
MANMOHAN SINGH
Manmohan Singh, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service, is a contemporary poet. His poems have been published in a number of magazines. This poem is chosen from his book titled ‘Village Poems’.
V. Question & Answers
1. The time of the day suggested in the poem is
a. sunrise
b. sunset
c. either sunrise or sunset
d. not clear
Ans: - (a) sunrise
2. The sun is described as the reluctant sun. It means that
a. the sun was unwilling to rise.
b. the male bird was impatient.
c. it was the bird's feeling that the sun was reluctant to rise.
d. the sun always takes more time to rise than to set.
Ans: - (a) the sun was unwilling to rise.
3. a. In the first 4 lines, there is an exaggeration in the description. What is it?
Ans: - The male bird is shown as bending to pluck the sun out from the rim of the horizon. Certainly, the bird cannot touch the sun with its beak or even reach the horizon. The bent neck of the bird and the eager movements of the bird are shown thus.
b. What is the figure of speech used here?
Ans: - The figure of speech is Hyperbole.
4. How was the majestic neck humbled by the hunter?
Ans: - The neck of a Sarus crane is very long, graceful and beautiful. At a time when the bird was stretching its neck and trying to do something impossible like pulling the sun out of the rim of the horizon, the bird was shot in the neck. When it fell down dead, the hunter, without paying any attention to the beauty that was lost through his action, casually picked up the bird's hands and jaws', crumpled it like a piece of paper and threw it into his bag without a second look at it. In this manner, the majestic neck has humbled the hunter.
5. The expression 'picked up hands and jaws,' suggests
a. callousness of the hunters.
b. heartlessness of the hunters.
c. urgency of the hunters.
d. cruelty of the hunters
Ans: - (a) callousness of the hunters
6. ………………..is compared to 'dirty linen' (complete the sentence using the correct option)
a. the proud neck of the birds
b. the dead body of the bird
c. the hands and jaws of the bird
d. the material of the bag
Ans: - (b) the dead body of the bird
7. “and sat to hatch/the bloodstained feathers/into a toddling chick”. This suggests,
a. that the female bird was out of her senses after the death of the male bird.
b. the intense love of the female bird towards its male partner.
c. the foolish act of the female bird.
d. the desperate act of the female bird to bring the male bird back to life.
Ans: - (a) that the female bird was out of her senses after the death of the male bird.
8. How is the end of the female crane suggested in the poem?
Ans: - It is said that 'a wave of the seas she had never seen' came to her and carried her away. It cannot be the real sea because the cranes lived near the sea. It could be a wave of grief which the bird had never known as long as her partner was alive. She was always very happy, and the death of the male bird pushed her towards sadness. Grieving for the male bird and sitting on his blood-stained feathers, the female bird forgot to eat or drink and thus, becoming very weak, met her end.
V. Question & Answers
1. The time of the day suggested in the poem is
a. sunrise
b. sunset
c. either sunrise or sunset
d. not clear
Ans: - (a) sunrise
2. The sun is described as the reluctant sun. It means that
a. the sun was unwilling to rise.
b. the male bird was impatient.
c. it was the bird's feeling that the sun was reluctant to rise.
d. the sun always takes more time to rise than to set.
Ans: - (a) the sun was unwilling to rise.
3. a. In the first 4 lines, there is an exaggeration in the description. What is it?
Ans: - The male bird is shown as bending to pluck the sun out from the rim of the horizon. Certainly, the bird cannot touch the sun with its beak or even reach the horizon. The bent neck of the bird and the eager movements of the bird are shown thus.
b. What is the figure of speech used here?
Ans: - The figure of speech is Hyperbole.
4. How was the majestic neck humbled by the hunter?
Ans: - The neck of a Sarus crane is very long, graceful and beautiful. At a time when the bird was stretching its neck and trying to do something impossible like pulling the sun out of the rim of the horizon, the bird was shot in the neck. When it fell down dead, the hunter, without paying any attention to the beauty that was lost through his action, casually picked up the bird's hands and jaws', crumpled it like a piece of paper and threw it into his bag without a second look at it. In this manner, the majestic neck has humbled the hunter.
5. The expression 'picked up hands and jaws,' suggests
a. callousness of the hunters.
b. heartlessness of the hunters.
c. urgency of the hunters.
d. cruelty of the hunters
Ans: - (a) callousness of the hunters
6. ………………..is compared to 'dirty linen' (complete the sentence using the correct option)
a. the proud neck of the birds
b. the dead body of the bird
c. the hands and jaws of the bird
d. the material of the bag
Ans: - (b) the dead body of the bird
7. “and sat to hatch/the bloodstained feathers/into a toddling chick”. This suggests,
a. that the female bird was out of her senses after the death of the male bird.
b. the intense love of the female bird towards its male partner.
c. the foolish act of the female bird.
d. the desperate act of the female bird to bring the male bird back to life.
Ans: - (a) that the female bird was out of her senses after the death of the male bird.
8. How is the end of the female crane suggested in the poem?
Ans: - It is said that 'a wave of the seas she had never seen' came to her and carried her away. It cannot be the real sea because the cranes lived near the sea. It could be a wave of grief which the bird had never known as long as her partner was alive. She was always very happy, and the death of the male bird pushed her towards sadness. Grieving for the male bird and sitting on his blood-stained feathers, the female bird forgot to eat or drink and thus, becoming very weak, met her end.
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